The purpose of the Highway 169 project is to upgrade the condition of the highway, improve its safety, reduce congestion, and increase its capacity to meet the needs of the driving public. The project is located on Highway 169 between Brooklyn Boulevard and 93rd Avenue on County Road 81 between Green Haven Drive and 5th Avenue SE, and on County Road 109/85th Avenue North between Xylon Avenue North and the Burlington Northern Sante Fe Railway (BNSF) tracks.

The Highway 169 corridor is an at-risk, high priority interregional corridor. In addition, the intersection of Highway 169 and Hennepin County Road 81 is the busiest signalized intersection in the Twin Cities Metro area.

The intersection of Hwy 169 and County Road 81 ranks third on the 2005 statewide Top 200 High Crash Cost Intersections list* and the intersection of Hwy 169 and 85th Avenue ranks sixth on the same list.  With increased traffic volumes forecast within the next twenty years, the current amount of delay and the number of stopped vehicles is expected to increase significantly.